Health literacy among older adults is associated with their 10-years’ cognitive functioning and decline - the Doetinchem Cohort Study

BMC Geriatrics

Table 1 Background characteristics and current cognitive functioning of participants by level of health literacy (n = 988)

	Health literacy
	High (81.8%)	Low (18.2%)	Total	p
Age (years)	64.9	66.8	65.3	.015
Male (%)	47.4	45.0	47.0	.56
(Very) low-educated (%)	26.3	54.3	31.5	<.001^a
Cognitive functioning (z-scores)
Memory	0.09	−0.38	0.00	<.001
Information processing speed	0.09	−0.39	0.00	<.001
Mental flexibility	0.10	−0.47	0.00	<.001
Global cognitive functioning	0.10	−0.39	0.01	<.001

p-values are based on chi-square tests and independent samples t-tests. Percentages of missing data were low (all percentages< 3.2%)
^ap-value is based on five levels of education